The Roman army’s disenfranchisement from the Republic is often used as a warning in modern civil-military relations. This story mimics the warning from a French perspective. Larteguy’s characters, archetypes with varied backgrounds, endure Indochina and captivity before engaging in the Algerian War. They experience ethical conflict and subsequent rationalization where the ends justify the means. The character of warfare changes and the characters change with it. The failure at Dien Bien Phu was a result of failing to recognize and adapt to the right kind of war. The characters understand this with reflection and adapt to the type of war they are fighting in Algeria – becoming what they fight.
“I’d like France to have two armies: one for display, with lovely guns, tanks, little soldiers, fanfares, staffs, distinguished and doddering generals, and dear little regimental officers who would be deeply concerned with the general’s piles: an army that would be shown for a modest fee on every fairground in the country. The other would be the real one, composed entirely of young enthusiasts in camouflage battledress, who would not be put on display but from whom impossible efforts would be demanded and to whom all sorts of tricks would be taught. That’s the army in which I should like to fight.”
A quick and easy read, Larteguy was a reporter during this period and this novel clearly shows his experience. There is much to unpack in this narrative from an ethical and moral standpoint.
A book review by Chris L’Heureux
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